Council

of Europe

Conseil
de lEurope

Project
Education of
Roma Children
in Europe

Roma | Culture

A contemporary picture
of Romani communities
in Eastern Europa

1.2

Elena Marushiakova & Veselin Popov

Every nation around the world preserves its ethnographic and dialectal diversity as a valuable
cultural heritage. This diversity is greater among the Roma due to historical events, the lack of a
common territory, the dispersal of their communities in many different countries, life in different
cultural environments, group endogamy, etc. At the same time, this diversity is better preserved than
in other European nations, yet it is still insufficiently known and appreciated. The contemporary
mosaic of Roma communities forms a significant part of the World Cultural Heritage of Mankind.

Ill. 1 Le Rom le ae from Transcarpathia, Ukraine, Korolevo 2008

Ill. 2 Kortari,

Ill. 3 Koniari,

Ill. 4 Kelderari,

Lukovit, Bulgaria 1998

(unless otherwise stated, all photos: Archive Studii Romani)

region of Krajova, Romnia, 2008;

Transylvania (Foto: Fabian Jacobs)

A contemporary picture of Romani communities in Eastern Europa

Ill. 5 Romanian speaking Ursari (Subgroup of Rudari)

in Bulgaria 1998

Ethnic Social Structure and

Cultural Characteristics
of Romani Communities

In order to be able to understand the ethnic social structure and cultural characteristics of Romani communities in Eastern
Europe1, we have to take into consideration several important circumstances:
1. Across the whole region of
Eastern Europe lives a clearly defined
and distinctive ethnic community, similarly referred to in various countries as
Cigni, Cikni, Cyganie, igonai, igni,
Cignyok, igani, ingeneler, ,
, , etc. Their ancestors migrated from the Indian subcontinent to Europe over a millennium ago. This external
umbrella appellation is referred to by the
English term Gypsies. This community
can be considered (as any other nation in
the region) as an imagined community
(according to the terminology of Benedict Anderson), but unlike the rest of the
nations, it has been imagined not by
its own members, but by the remaining
part of the population that has been living alongside them for centuries. Hence,
somewhat paradoxically, the boundaries
of this community are determined in fact
not by its members, but by the surrounding population regardless of the Romas
self-perception. It is not uncommon (not
only in Eastern Europe but also elsewhere
2

Ill. 6 Ukrainian speaking Roma with preferred Ukrainian identity,

from village Hlinicja, Ukraine, 2003

in the world) to have communities referred to as Gypsies by the surrounding

population, while having chosen an identity other than Romani for themselves:
They are bearers of the so-called phenomenon of preferred ethnic identity.
This term describes a publicly declared or
experienced, or nowadays even actively
constructed, identity of communities of
Gypsies whose mother tongues are not
only various dialects of Romani, but also
of Turkish, Tatar, Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian, Romanian, Hungarian,
Ukrainian, etc. On the basis of this, we
will refer to Roma as not only members
of the communities which identify themselves as such, but a much wider circle of
communities.
2. Everywhere in the world Roma
have existed at least in two dimensions,
or in two coordinate planes - both as a
separate community and as a society (in
particular as its ethnically-based integral
part within the respective nation-state).
The contemporary conditions of Romani
communities depend on the past centuries
of social, cultural and historical context in
which they lived, as well as on the contemporary social, economic and political
situation in their different home countries.
3. One of the key problems which
Romani studies have always faced is the
question regarding the internal structure
of the Roma community. Roma are an
inhomogeneous socio-cultural unit that

is hierarchically structured on different

taxonomical levels. A main scientific category, which is traditionally used by the
Romani studies scholars, is The Roma
Group (the notions tribe, nation or
even caste are also used). There are
many excellent descriptions of separate
Roma groups and several attempts to draw
a more or less comprehensive picture of
the existing groups in various regions or
countries in Europe. Less attention is paid
to the question what is a Roma group
(i.e. what is its essence, main characteristics, etc.), and on the processes of its historical and/or contemporary development.
Based on materials mainly from
Eastern Europe we have developed a
general theoretical ideal model of the
Roma group, with its main characteristics and its key place in the whole internal hierarchy of the Romani community.
We can purely schematically present the
following characteristics that make up the
typical ideal Roma group: presence of
group consciousness; only a person who
is born into the group can be a member
of it; strict observance of group endogamy; use of a common language either
Romani or another language in communities who have lost their mother tongue; a
common traditional lifestyle (sedentary or
nomadic); common means of subsistence
(group profession or traditional occupations); existence of a potestary structure
and internal self-government; strict ob-

Council of Europe

Roma | Culture

Project Education of Roma Children in Europe

servance of group rules and norms; common life perceptions (including religion);
common value and behavioural patterns,
common opinions and moral principles;
large and strong families regarded as the
highest value; restriction of friendly contacts outside the boundaries of the group;
mutual solidarity and obligation to lend
support; maintenance of group authenticity and isolation (the rule of non-interference in other groups affairs); observance
of group prohibitions (e.g. mahrime, magerdo, muxros, etc.). This list of the main
characteristics of the ideal Roma group
is a theoretical construction which could
be extended or restructured. Either way,
it is definitely needed for the characterisation of separate Roma groups and for
distinguishing one group from another.
Based on these main characteristics, in
the process of comparing and confronting with the others (including other

Ill. 7 Kurbeti,

town of Voinka, Crimea,

Ukraine, 2002

The Mosaic of
Romani Communities
in Eastern Europe

The Roma groups are not static and unchangeable social and cultural units. Processes in different directions, velocity and
frequency that flow constantly among
them can be reduced to two main contradictory and correlated tendencies - segmentation and consolidation. On one hand

Roma), group identity is created. Group

identity is ultimately the essential expression of the existence of a given group (a
Roma group cannot exist without group
consciousness, which is different from
e.g. a dialectal group). The construction of
this ideal model is not an end in itself. It
merely helps to obtain a sufficiently clear
notion of what the Roma group is. Following a thorough analysis that takes into
account the presence or the absence of
certain elements of the ideal group model,
we can gain some insight into the set-up of
a contemporary Roma group. Using this
model as a yardstick we can easily recognise and distinguish one Roma group
from another. It should be noted that the
presence or absence of certain elements of
the ideal group model in separate Roma
groups does not mean that one group is
more real than the other. It only signifies
the change in group borders and flowing

process of segmentation or consolidation

that leads to the creation and development of new Roma groups (on the same
or higher taxonomical level).
Generally it can be said that Roma
form a specific type of community,the
intergroup ethnic communit which is divided into a number of separate (and sometimes even opposed) endogamic groups,
subgroups and metagroup units with their
own ethnic and cultural features. On the
basis of theRoma grou it is possible to
reveal the different levels of existence of
the Romani community - group, subgroup
divisions and metagroup units on different
levels. These communities are on different
hierarchical levels, and depending on various factors, one or another of these levels
could be the main, leading or determining
factor of the identity of any given Roma
community, including the consciousness
of affiliations to a civic nation-state

Ill. 8 Krimurja/Krmltika

Roma, Muslim Roma from Crimea,

Crimea, Ukraine, city of Aluta 2002

we find a process of segmentation of the

group into separate subgroup divisions
formed according to family and/or territorial factors. On the other hand, the separate subgroup divisions are consolidating gradually into one group, or separate
groups are consolidating into one metagroup community. In both cases, the newly
formed communities are gradually accepting the dimensions of a new, unique group.
There are many reasons for these processes to be considered characteristic for

the Roma in the earlier historical periods

as well. These processes explain even the
contemporary picture of the mosaic of the
Roma groups in the world to a great extent
and predict that after some generations the
general picture of the Romanies around
the world will not be the same.
Eastern Europe is the historical
region where the most numerous subdivision of the the Roma community, is concentrated (other Roma communities living
in different places all over the world are
3

A contemporary picture of Romani communities in Eastern Europa

Ill. 9 Sepedi,

Izmir, Istanbul, Turkey 2006

contemporary migrants or descendants

of the migrants who left this region from
about 150 years ago). Sinti in this region
are too few in number, as they comprise
only a few families in the Russian Federation, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia which are
nowadays mostly mixed with Roma. From
the point of view of borders of the Roma
subdivision presence, the territory of contemporary Turkey has a unique place in
the world. It is the current location of the
heirs of the three big waves, into which
the Romani migration was divided during
their long journey from India to Europe
(the division Rom / Lom / Dom).
Roma have been settled in the Balkans for centuries (at least since the 11th
to 12th century and, according to some authors, even from as early as the 9th century).
The first Romani settlers in the Balkans
were the Roma communities who spoke
the Romani dialects of the Balkan dialect
group. Subsequently, they were joined by
Romanies who spoke the dialects of the
southern Vlax dialectal group, and who
are the descendants of a big wave of migration from Wallachia and Moldova who
scattered en masse all over the Balkan Peninsula in the 17th and 18th centuries. The
Balkans have a relatively well-preserved
variety of the different groups and metagroup communities who practice Islam
or Christianity. Some of them converted
from one religion to the other in different
periods of history and their beliefs are of4

Ill. 10 Mekari,

Baltz, Albania 1999

ten characterised by a high degree of syncretism. The most general distinction between these communities is the distinction
between Muslims (Xoroxan/, Xoraxane or
Khorane Roma) and Orthodox Christians
(Dasikane Roma), who are divided into
more or less autonomous groups within
each community. The groups are differentiated at various hierarchical levels (i.e.
the lead in Roma identity structure can be
on the level of the two major subdivisions
or on the level of separate groups, or on the
level of subgroups and/or regional subdivisions) Examples of such internal subdivisions of the main metagroup communities are groups belonging to the Balkan dialectal community: Arlia, Kovai
(Bugurdi, Arabadi), etc. in the countries
of the former Yugoslavia; Erlii, Burgudi,
Futadi, Fiiri, Drindari, Kalajdi,
Koniari, Demirdi, etc. in Bulgaria;
Arlia, Mekara, Sepetdi in Albania; Arlija, Sevljarja in Greece; Erlides, Sepedi,
Kalajdi, Boxad in Turkey. The Vlax
I dialectal community comprises for instance the Gurbeti, Dambazi,Bosnia
ergarja,Montenegria ergarja,
Kaloperi, etc. in the countries of the
former Yugoslavia; Vlaxoria (Vlaxiki,
Laxo),Thracia Kalajdi, Dambazi,
Prori, etc. in Bulgaria; Kaburdi, Kurtofi, ergara in Albania; Kalpazaja,
Xandurja, Filipidi in Greece; Vlaxos
(Laxoja) in Turkey. This list of Romani
groups in the Balkans is by no means exhaustive as the boundaries of the groups

are not always clearly defined and often

given group names which arose as professionyms (e.g. Kalajdi, Koniari, etc.)
refer to two or more very different groups
(in one or more countries). The processes
ofpreferred ethnic identit are strongly
expressed mainly among the Muslim
Roma in the Balkans. A significant number
of them are Turkish-speaking (or have
Turkish and Romani as mother tongues)
and often prefer to declare (or perceive)
themselves as Turks. This is the case most
often in Bulgaria, Eastern Macedonia and
Aegean Thrace (Greece). In other cases,
the preferred community is Albanian.
The processes of adopting the identity of
the surrounding population, such as in the
groups of the so-called Dorevci in Bulgaria or Gjorgjovci in Serbia, are similar
in content. A relatively small number of
Roma belong to the groups who settled in
this region during the large Roma migrations in the second half of the 19th century
and the beginning of the 20th century and
who belong to the Vlax II dialectal group.
In the countries of the former Yugoslavia (mostly in Serbia) they are known by
the general umbrella term Lajei and in
Bulgaria Kardarai / Kaldarai, in some
places also as Lajei or Katunari (i.e.
Nomads). In Bulgaria their popular selfappellation is Rom Ciganjak true Gypsie). There are several subgroup subdivisions within this group, according to family or regional lines (such as the Zlatari,
Nicule, Tasmanari, aple, Dudulani,

Council of Europe

Project Education of Roma Children in Europe

Ljne, Njamcurja in Bulgaria).

The numerous Romanian-speaking
communities inhabit the whole Balkan Peninsula (except for Albania, Kosovo and
Turkey). Their self-appellation in Bulgaria and eastern Serbia is Rudari / Ludari;
Bejai in Croatia and in some places in
eastern Serbia; Bajai in Vojvodina, Karavlasi in Bosnia, etc. In some instances,
as e.g. among Rudari in Bulgaria a certain extent of intergroup subdivisions is
preserved based on professional features
(such as Lingurari [spoon-makers], Ursari or Mekari [bear-trainers]), and on
regional features (e.g. Monteni, Intreni,
Kamieni, Dobrudeni, Tracieni, et..).
Among these communities we can observe
the phenomenon ofpreferred ethnic
identit (i.e. they prefer to be identified as
Vlaxs / Romanians, and recently in some
places (Croatia, Serbia) sometimes also as
Roma; in Bulgaria some of them are undergoing a process of searching for their
own (non-Romanian and non-Romani)
identity, connected with attempts at construction of their own quasi-history).
Processes of searching and attempts at constructing a new, non-Romani
identity are observed also among other
communities in the Balkans, e.g. among
the Turkish-speaking community of the
Milliet peopl, as a neutral ethnic category) in Bulgaria or among Albanianspeaking Akali in Kosovo. The processes
in this direction acquire qualitatively new
shapes for the Balkan Egyptians in Mac-

Ill. 11 Gabori,

edonia, Albania, Kosovo and Serbia, who

for centuries were perceived by their surrounding population as Gypsies (Gjupti
/ Gjupci in Macedonia, Jevgi in Albania,
etc.). They are not only actively constructing their own comprehensive national
history, but have also received official
recognition as a detached community in
Kosovo, where they are part of the RAE
(Roma, Egyptiand, Akali) communities
In Romania the mosaic of Roma groups is
also diverse. To a great extent this mosaic
is determined by the division of the Roma
into different categories during the period
of their enslavement in the Danubian principalities (Wallachia and Moldova). With
time the ancestors of the Vatrai category
(fromvatr - fireplace, i.e. settled, domestic slaves), also calledKherutne Rom (i.e.
those who live in houses) have lost their
group distinctions and have become a
large metagroup community with partially
preserved regional or professional features. Most of them are only Romanianspeaking and many of them demonstrate
a preference for a Romanian identity. Only
a small number of them also speaks Romanes. The Romanian-speaking Rudari
(in Wallachia), Lingurari (in Moldova),
Bei / Beai in Transylvania) are a large
community who also used to have a special status during the time of slavery. The
descendants of the Lei slaves, who used
to be nomads and paid an annual tax to
their masters (the prince, boyars, or monasteries), are today a detached metagroup

Cluj, Romania 2003

Ill. 12 Dajfa,

Roma | Culture

community, known under the generalised

name Lei and/or Pletoi and Kortorari.
Within this metagroup community, the
relatively well-preserved groups and subgroups are e.g. Klderari, Zlatari, urari,
Gabori, Kazandi, Arentari, Korbeni,
Modorani, Tismanari or ori, who belong
to the Vlax II dialectal group. In Romania
there are also groups linguistically classified as part of the Balkan dialect group
(Ursari, Spoitoari), and in Dobrudzha
there are Turkish- or Tatar-speaking Muslim Roma with their respective preferred
identity. Transylvania home to a significant number of Romani-speaking Rumungri (Roma Ungrika), part of them are
Hungarian-speaking Rumungri, often with
a preferred Hungarian identity. I n
central Europe the variety of Roma groups
is smaller relative to the one in the Balkans
and in Romania. In Slovakia, a large Roma
population has been settled for centuries,
divided most generally into the Slovenska
(Slovak) Roma (also called by some scholars Servika Roma) speaking Central or
Carpathian dialects of Romanes, and Ungrika Roma or Rumungri, many of whom
are only Hungarian-speaking and some of
whom have a preferred Hungarian identity. This is also the home of Vlaika or Olah
(Wallachian) Roma (their number there
is smaller) from different subdivisions Lovari, Bougeti, Drizdari, etc., who are
former nomads, speaking northern Vlax
dialects. Moreover, we find small communities of Romanian-speaking Bajai or Ko-

Simferopol, Ukraine 2002

A contemporary picture of Romani communities in Eastern Europa

Ill. 13 Vlaxi/Vlaxurja

women, Astrakhan, Russia, 2003

rytari. The situation in the Czech Republic

mirrors the situation in Slovakia because
during the Second World War the local
Roma and Sinti were almost entirely annihilated in Nazi concentration camps (only
a few families survived). After World War
II, the country was repopulated by Roma
who came from Slovakia (primarily from
the region of eastern Slovakia). In Hungary the settled Rumungri (Ungrika Roma)
and/or Ciganyok are predominant. Most
of them are Hungarian-speaking, many
of them also with a preferred Hungarian
identity. One may also encounter Romanispeaking groups of Rumungri, although
they are less numerous (mostly in Eastern
Hungary), as well as a minor presence of
Slovenska Roma. The second most numerous community are the Vlaika Roma or
Olah Roma with internal subdivisions into
Lovari, Kelderari, urari, Drizari, Posotari, Kherari, erhari, Khangliari, Colari,
Maari, and others. The third community
is the Romanian-speaking Bojai, with internal subdivisions into Ardelan, Muntjan,
Titjan, etc.). Among some of them there is
an on-going process of developing a Roma
identity. Poland is a country with a relatively small number of Roma. In the regions which used to be part of the former
Russian Empire live the Polska (Polish)
Roma, former nomads who are now scattered all over Poland. Their community
also includes the so-called Xaladitka (or
Ruska) Roma who live in areas bordering
the former Soviet Union, as well as their
6

Ill. 14 Servi,

city of Prejaslav Khmelnitskiy, Ukraine 2004

relatives Sasitka (German) Roma near the

border with the former Prussia. Bergitka
Roma, who have been sedentary for centuries, live along the northern slopes of the
Carpathian mountains. Small communities of Kelderari and Lovari, who are relatively new migrants (from the beginning
of the 20th century) are scattered across the
country. The biggest Roma community in
the countries of the former Russian Empire and USSR is the community of Ruska
(Russian) Roma, known also as Xaladitka
Roma. These are the descendants of the
firstsRoma who settled within the Russian Empire in the 16th to 17th century,
coming from Germany through Poland
and Lithuania. They are former nomads,
mainly Orthodox Christians, who speak
a different dialect to the Baltic (or Nordic) groups of Romanes dialects. Ruska
Roma hsve more or less detached subdivisions which are not endogamically closed.
These subdivisions are detached according
to the territories of residence (nowadays or
in the past), e.g. Polska Roma, also called
Xaladitka Roma in the past, and nowadays
Litovska Roma, in Lithuania and Belarus;
Lotfika (Latvian) Roma living in Latvia
and partly also in Estonia; Sibirjaki, who
are nowadays dispersed across the whole
of Russia and Ukraine. Ruska Roma, with
all their more or less separate divisions
currently live in different countries of the
former USSR (including individual families in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), without interrupting their ties.Next in numbers

is the Roma community of the so-called

Ukrainian Roma with the self-appellation
Servi, with their internal subdivisions into
Xandari, Kalmyi, Gimpeni, Kahanci,
Kori, etc. Some of the subdivisions of
the Servi have lost their language and
are Ukrainian-speaking. They settled in
eastern Ukraine and the southern parts of
Russia as early as the middle of the 16th
century, migrating from Poland. Nowadays they are scattered all over Russia and
also in Kazakhstan. In eastern Ukraine
and southern Russia we find a small group
of Plauni, former nomads speaking a
Central or rather Carpathian dialect of
Romanes. Dialects from the same dialectal group are spoken also by some of the
Slovenska (Slovak) Roma and Rumungri,
who settled in Transcarpathian Ukraine,
others are Hungarian-speaking, many with
a preferred Hungarian identity. Significant
numbers of Rumungri are nowadays migrating towards large Russian cities where
they are referred to as Madjari.
The Roma communities who are
representatives of the Balkan dialect
groups who migrated from the Balkan Peninsula through Wallachia and Moldavia
in the 17th to 18th century are relatively numerous. These are the Ursara in Moldova
and southern Ukraine and Krimurja or
Krmltika Roma (from Krm the Tatar
name for Crimea). Krimurja, who are
Muslim by tradition, used to live in Crimea
and in modern times resettled in Ukraine,
southern Russia, Moscow and Povolzhie

Council of Europe

Roma | Culture

Project Education of Roma Children in Europe

(along the Volga river). Some of them had

lived in Transcaucasia and central Asia
until recently, but migrated from there to
various cities in the Russian Federation
and Ukraine. A special case is the community of Dajfa / Tajfa (old self-appellation
Urumel or Urmael) in Crimea, who are
today Tatar-speaking and have a preferred
Tatar self-identity. Their ancestors came to
these territories probably also from the Balkans and Asia Minor during the Ottoman
Empire, probably in the 16th to 17th century.
A considerable number of representatives of the Vlax II dialect groups
live in these regions too, such as Vlaxi /
Vlaxurja who arrived from Wallachia and
Moldavia, most probably in the 17th to 18th
centuries and who are today settled mostly
in eastern Ukraine, southern Russia and
Povolzhie (along the Volga river). Other
groups belonging to the same dialectal
group are Kiinjovcurja or Kiinjovci. The

Ill. 15 Ruska

group is currently undergoing a process of

consolidation, as it includes descendants
of the so-called Laei who used to live in
the regions between the rivers Dniester
and Prut, joined the Russian Empire in the
early 19th century. Today this group is settled in various cities in the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Significant numbers
of Laei continued to live in the Republic
of Moldova (divided into two parts Katunarja living in the south and the more
detached okenarja in the north) and in
Bessarabia (Ukraine).
The time of the Large Romani Migrations at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century saw the arrival of
the communities of Kelderari and Lovari
in Russian Empire. They migrated via the
territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
and are nowadays found in different regions of the Russian Federation (including
Siberia), Ukraine, Byelorussia, Lithuania

Roma, city of Prejaslav Khmelnitskiy, Ukraine 2003

Conclusion
The internal subdivision of the Roma is
reflected in their group, subgroup, metagroup and preferred identity. Parallel to
this, most of the Roma in Eastern Europe
have established a qualitatively different
new level in the complex structure of their
community identity. This is the feeling of
belonging to each respective countrys nationality. The presence of such a level in
the structure of their identity is the result
of attaining a certain level in the develop-

Ill. 16 Kelderari,

and Latvia. These two groups are divided

into internal subdivisions: among Lovari
these are Ungri, oketi and Bundaa;
among Kelderara - Serbaja, Moldovaja,
Grekurja, Bugari, Dobroaja, Mavaja,
Mihaeti, Ioneti, Bidoni, etc. The trend
(in most cases still ongoing) among Kelderari is towards segmentation of separate
subgroups into new groups. Currently, the
furthest developments in this direction are
to be observed in the case of the so-called
anxajci or Kitajcurja or Kitajako Rrom
who live in Odessa. In the countries of the
former USSR there are also Romanianspeaking Roma, such as Lingurari, living
in the contemporary Republic of Moldova
and Bessarabia; a significant part of them
migrated also to Ukraine and the Russian
Federation. The Vlaxija in the Republic
of Moldova are also Romanian-speaking.
Both groups have a preferred Moldavian/
Romanian identity.

Ivanovo, Russia, 2004

ment of their civic awareness and their

integration into the respective states. This
fact is easily explained in the light of the
turns of their history and their belonging in the social life of the countries and
regions where they have been settled for
centuries. With the onset of the 21st century a series of considerable changes became palpable that were related above all
to the finalisation of the processes of European integration in the majority of the
Eastern European countries. The migration floods and labour mobility became a

common factor not only for the newly acceded countries, but to a certain degree for
the entire Eastern European region. These
processes encompass the Roma from the
region, too, which leave their impact on
the development of the Roma identities
and grants them new, common European
dimensions. In the new European reality
the development of the Romani community acquires new and wider spatial dimensions that transcend the existing state borders. Large portions of the existing Roma
groups migrate from Eastern Europe to
7

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Project Education of Roma Children in Europe

Ill. 17 Kaburdi,

Albania 1999

various countries in Western Europe

to permanently settle there (or at least
with the intent to settle). At this stage
the relations (including through marriage) among the members of the groups

Ill. 18 Burgudii/Parpulii,

remain, but it is not difficult to forecast

that the development of the processes of
segmentation and consolidation of the
groups will certainly acquire new dimensions that will find their expression

Bulgaria 1998

in group (and subgroup and metagroup)

identities. This means that finally, after
several decades, we will find a totally different overall tableau of the Roma presence in a united Europe.

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1

The region of Eastern Europe, as referred to in this text, encompasses the countries east of the so-called Iron Curtain that divided Europe after World War II: Poland,
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, as well as the countries of former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia) and the European part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Russian Federation, Ukraine
and the Republic of Moldova) which used to belong to the so-called socialist system, and Greece and Turkey, which were not part of it.

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project Education of
Roma Children in Europe
http://www.coe.int/education/roma
http://romani.uni-graz.at/romani